More men taking paternity leave in Denmark

While the women still lead the way, new figures from Danmarks Statistik show an increase of 18 percent compared to 2015

May 31, 2022

The government has taken a number of steps to encourage more men to take time off to be with their children when they are born.

And new figures from Danmarks Statistik seem to show that those efforts are having an impact.

The figures revealed that men took on average 35 days of paternity leave in 2020 – 18 percent more compared to 2015.

“It may be that the starting point is at a rather low level, but it is nonetheless pleasing for gender equality that fathers are slowly taking a greater share of the leave,” Britt Dinesen Christiansen, an economist with Danica Pension, told TV2 Østjylland.

More gains expected
Christiansen went on to say that she expects further inroads will be made from August 2, at which point parental leave will need to be shared more equally, giving men the right to take 11 weeks off.

Women still lead the way in convincing fashion when it comes to parental leave with 280.1 days on average.

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